The present disclosure relates generally to a torque vectoring differential and method for controlling vehicle stability, and particularly to a magnetorheological actuator for purposes thereof.
A vehicle differential facilitates the distribution of the engine power to the wheels. It also facilitates the transmission of power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds during a turn. It additionally acts as the final gear reduction in the vehicle.
In order to facilitate the distribution of power to the wheels, brakes and couplings are used for torque vectoring. These brakes and couplings can use magnetorheological fluids in order to effect torque vectoring in vehicles having 4-wheel drive and all-wheel drive arrangements. The magnetorheological fluids suffer from a number of drawbacks, one of which is the separation of the magnetizable particles from the carrier fluid. This results in a reduction in sensitivity over time as well as additional power consumption. It is therefore desirable to use couplings in which the magnetorheological fluid does not phase separate over time thereby preserving the systems sensitivity and quick response characteristics and which minimizes the amount of power used in order to control the vehicle stability.